ROBERT J. THOMAS OF KOREA

In 1866, Robert J. Thomas was the first missionary to Korea. He survived only a few months in that country. He had been ordained at a little Church in Hanover on June 4th. Thomas and his wife left for Korea in July. They were sent by the London Mission Society for preaching the Gospel. His wife died soon after arriving at Shanghai, China. Thomas went alone to Korea where he began to learn the language to evangelize. In 1866, Thomas sailed by the American ship ” The General Sherman ” along the Taedong river. While reading the Bible, he heard the shouts of the Korean soldiers and looked up. Those soldiers were boarding the ship waving long flashing knives. When Thomas saw that he was going to be killed, he held out the Korean Bible to them saying,” Jesus, Jesus “. His head was cut off. 25 years later, someone discovered a little guest house in that area with some strange wall papers. The owner of the house explained that he had pasted the pages of the Bible Thomas had given to his murderers to preserve the writing and many guests would come in and stay to read the pages of the Bible. Though North Korea is ruled by Communists, the Church lives. The work of Robert J. Thomas the short-lived missionary continues. Today, more than a hundred Christian families secretly worship Jesus Christ. Thomas died before saving anyone, but he penetrated the darkness of that land with the Word of God.